Mets' Francisco Lindor Announces He'll Captain Puerto Rico at 2026 WBC in IG Photo

New York Mets' star shortstop Francisco Lindor announced Wednesday that he'll serve as the captain for Puerto Rico at the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Lindor also participated for Puerto Rico at the 2023 event, helping to lead his country to the quarterfinals where it lost to Mexico, 5-4.

He's the second captain to be named for the tournament, joining the United States' Aaron Judge.

One of the storylines from the 2023 WBC was the injuries to Puerto Rican reliever to Edwin Díaz and Venezuelan second baseman Jose Altuve, leading to questions about whether MLB players might skip the tournament to avoid injury.

Lindor never seemed likely to entertain such thoughts, however.

"We all care for each other and no one wants to get hurt," he told reporters in 2023. "But we all love our countries and want to represent our countries. ... We have an opportunity to represent our countries and learn from our peers. It's amazing."

Lindor was fantastic at the 2023 WBC, hitting .450 with six runs, five RBI, a stolen base and a 1.050 OPS. He's a logical captain heading into 2026.

He's had a rougher start to the 2025 season for the Mets, hitting .234 with a homer and six RBI. But after finishing as the runner-up in the NL MVP voting last year, and leading the Mets to the NLCS, he's earned plenty of benefit of doubt in New York, even after the slow start.

His country will equally be placing a lot of faith in him in 2026.

"It's Game 7 every day. I love that. I love whenever I get to wear Puerto Rico across my chest," Lindor told reporters. "Just give everything I got day in and day out. And I kind of like set the bar for that year. Now the teams are getting stacked, it's sick. I'm pumped for it."